Not Just Transgender

By Emily

I am Emily. I am a transgender girl. But that isn’t the be-all and end-all of my identity;being trans isn’t what I want to be known as above all else. I have many passions which include cooking and writing which shape me just as much as my gender identity. However, many people- usually cisgender, heterosexual people, but I try not to generalise- see me as nothing more than a walking billboard that reads, “Transgender”, and expect me to have no opinions other than pro-trans opinions.

This belief can manifest itself in a number of different ways. Many people believe anti-trans slurs will get to me and offend me, so they yell them enthusiastically. Some believe me to be a font of knowledge; one which will always answer dutifully to any and all questions, no matter how personal and/or invasive they may be. This often angers the questioner when I tell them that I do not wish to talk about the future of my genitalia and whether or not a transgender person is only transgender after gender-affirming surgeries (hint: they’re not), which causes them to see me as entitled and arrogant due to my marginalisation within the primarily cishet and (mostly) ignorant or transphobic community I am in.

Sometimes I feel like an object, like I am seen as nothing more than a dehumanised joke, “a transgender”, and then I start to actively dissolve any relationship I have with anti-trans members of society, causing them to grow more resentful towards me and yell yet more slurs.

I left writing this article for 20 minutes because I needed to shave my top lip and face (transgirl problems) and I just know that all I’m going to hear at school tomorrow is “Did you shave to look like a girl?”. The answer is yes. But I’m not just transgender, I’m Emily, I’m transgender, but I’m more than that.